Various types and configurations of prosthetic heart valves are used to replace diseased natural human heart valves. The actual shape and configuration of any particularly prosthetic heart valve is dependent to some extent upon the valve being replaced (i.e., mitral valve, tricuspid valve, aortic valve, or pulmonary valve). In general, the prosthetic heart valve designs attempt to replicate the function of the valve being replaced and thus will include valve leaflet-like structures used with either bioprosthesis or mechanical heart valves prosthesis.
A prosthetic heart valve encompasses bioprosthetic valves having leaflets made of a biological material, for example, harvested porcine valve leaflets, or bovine or equine or porcine pericardial leaflets. Bioprosthetic valves may be formed by shaping a plurality of individual flexible leaflets out of bovine or porcine tissue or other materials, and combining the leaflets to form the valve. One advantage of bioprosthetic valves, unlike mechanical valves, is that the patient receiving the valve typically does not require long term treatment with anticoagulants.
Valves using flexible leaflets, such as those made of bovine pericardial tissue, for example, can be composed of radially expandable stents with flexible leaflets attached. Implant methods include compressing the valve radially by a significant amount to reduce its diameter or delivery profile, inserting the valve into a delivery tool, such as a catheter or cannula, and advancing the delivery tool to the correct anatomical position in the heart. Once properly positioned, the valve is deployed by radial expansion within the native valve annulus, either through self-expanding stent structure or with an expansion balloon. The collapsed valve in the catheter may be introduced through the vasculature, such as through the femoral artery, or more directly through an intercostal incision in the chest.
When a valve is loaded into a delivery device, the valve has to be crimped down to a reduced or compressed size. When the valve is crimped down, the leaflets have to compact and fold in a manner such that the leaflets collapse within the space available within the crimped stent formation. As a transcatheter device is crimped the tissue typically folds in an uncontrolled manner causing the tissue to be pinched by the frame diamonds. This pinching could cause damage to the tissue and increases the packing density of the device. Controlling the manner of the tissue folds and reducing the tissue thickness would reduce the crimp profile for transcatheter valve designs.